This woman has been charged with fraud. So why hasn't Belle Gibson?

Belle Gibson has confessed that she lied. But police aren’t interested in charging her with fraud. Why not?

This week, while the rest of Australia was focussed on Belle Gibson, another woman was quietly being charged with fraud.

Last year, Elizabeth “Elle” Edmunds, 31, allegedly told people she had ovarian cancer (which later spread to her lungs). She shaved her head and set up a fundraising page. The mother of six apparently told family and friends that her cancer was untreatable and that she had been given three years to live.

She posted regular updates to thousands of followers on the “Help For Elle” Facebook page, many of whom donated generously. On her page, she spoke about her pain and her experiments with cannabis oil. She had organised her funeral and picked out the flowers.

Through her own fundraising efforts and those of others she allegedly raised the grand sum of $2500 ($1780 was raised through a crowd-funding website, while another woman raised $800 through a charity walk). There were collection tins and the Sydney Roosters sent a signed football. Reportedly, Roberta Williams (wife of murdered gangland figure Carl Williams) was organising a $150 per head fundraising dinner for Edmunds, but it was cancelled when Roberta herself fell ill.

Edmunds’ deception apparently ended last October when someone, believed to be her partner, reported her to police.

The Daily Telegraph reports that this week she was been charged with criminal fraud offences by police – specifically she was charged with two counts of obtaining benefits by deception.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, police say Edmunds, from Belmont in the Lake Macquarie region, falsified a certificate from a Sydney doctor stating she had ovarian cancer. She then established her Go Fund Me page and began to fleece both friends and strangers.

Edmonds spoke to the Women’s Day, saying she couldn’t explain why she invented the cancer. She thought perhaps that she had a breakdown brought on by the trauma of losing a newborn baby, seven years earlier.

She told the Woman’s Day that she was very sorry: “I feel so bad for the people raising money. I just want to pay everyone back and I promise I’m going to do that. I plan to make contact with each and every person who gave me money and make this right.”

It’s a shame to have to say it, but it is now a familiar story.

Belle Gibson also pretended to have cancer. She started a business – and presumably as a single mother from a background that she describes as poor, Belle probably had investors. Hundreds of thousands of people bought her The Whole Pantry app. She had a partnership with Apple and a book deal with Penguin.

Gibson certainly appears to have earned a lot more from her deception than Edmunds (who only allegedly cracked $2500). Her ‘victims’ are certainly more numerous. And while Woman’s Day reports that Edmunds has undertaken to repay her donations, Gibson certainly hasn’t given that indication. Some would say that her public statements have not included an apology for her actions.

Gibson raised money in the name of charities – and The Age revealed that four of the five charities listed in her company’s promotional material had no knowledge of the appeals. She ran at least two fundraising drives and soliciting cash donations from a following of 200,000 people.

And yet Victorian Police have said they would not be investigating. “This matter is being looked at by Consumer Affairs Victoria, not Victoria Police,” a spokeswoman said. A Consumer Affairs Victoria spokeswoman said it had written to the health blogger seeking clarification about her fund-raising appeals, and had launched an investigation.

Fraud is a crime in Victoria with a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.

Elle Edmunds has been charged under a similar provision in New South Wales – for an offence that garnered considerably less money, and arguably hurt far fewer people.

The question remains: Why has Victorian Police given up its investigation into Belle Gibson – when the evidence just keeps piling up?

For more on Belle Gibson:

‘My cancer was a lie,’ admits Belle Gibson.

Belle Gibson and the rise of Munchausens by Internet: why more people are faking it online.

Dear Belle Gibson, I’d like my $3,49 back.

Why Belle Gibson can’t blame an illness for her lies.

Did Belle Gibson tell another lie in her ‘tell-all’ interview?

Another day, another miraculous cancer treatment is proven to be a tragic lie.